Center Workers Or Former Center Workers

[nannyde]

Does this sound right?

I've been researching staff turnover in centers and came across this: http://www.mdchildcare.org/mdcfc/pdfs/StaffTurnover.pdf

The short story is that these guys sent out questionnaires to 1489 centers regarding staff turnover. Out of the 1489 ... 372 responded.

Out of the 372 they claimed to have 4116 employees during the calandar year of 2006.

They asked them how many staff left their position during that time and the result was nineteen percent of directors, 28 percent of senior staff (group leaders) and 42 percent of teacher aides. Average for the whole group was 33 percent.

That doesn't make sense to me. I think it's way higher than that. It would be saying that if you had a center with 50 aides you would have 21 of the assistants gone a year later... and 29 of them still there.

I am thinking a couple of things: There wasn't a breakdown with full and part time employees. 75 percent of the centers didn't respond. Of the 25 percent that did .... they were reporting information from 21 months ago to 9 months ago. There was no benefit to the centers to do the survey and nobody behind them checking their employment records to verify.

I'm writing an article and I can't find turnover statistics that are verified not just declared.

For those of you with center experience would you say that 33 percent turnover for the whole staff and 42 percent for "assistants" was/is your experience?


Just a side note: This article says:

This is from 2008.
The Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW)
reports that child care workers have a higher
concentration of poverty-level jobs than almost any
other occupation in the United States. CCW notes that
only 22 occupations out of 820 surveyed by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics in 2004 reported having lower mean
wages than child care workers. Among the job
classifications that have average earnings within five
percent of child care workers are short order cooks,
parking lot attendants, and maids.5

[familyschoolcare]

The center I worked at has a much lower turn over rate however, most about 80% thought about quieting. When they looked into other jobs they found out that what the director had been telling them was true we had the best medical benefits package in the valley for day care employees and the pay was better than most places in the valley. Most of the parents that brought children from another center said that it seamed like there was a new teacher in their child's room every 6 months.

[daycare]

Nan
I have never worked in a center however my older two kids attended one for many years. Both of my kids went through teachers like water.
I can honestly recall only 1 lady that stayed the entire 5 years my kids were there. In the first year Alone when my daughter was a baby she went through 4 teachers in less than one year. I too would agree that the turn over is much higher. Most Of the staff were college students trying to get hours or credit towards their degrees. For others it seems Like they were working there as a stepping stone waiting for something that paid better to come along.
Hope this helps some.

[rjskids]

I've heard the centers around here have very high turn over rates. The one I worked at did not. The reason for that was because of the higher pay and great benefits. I would say over the course of 15 years I saw 8-10 people leave and usually it was not because of job stress but because a lot of them had teaching degrees and went on to teaching grade school. From what I had heard from other centers in the area those kids had different teacher several times and year.
I think the high turnover rate not just has to do with pay and benefits, but because a lot of people are just "dabbling" in the career. Our center tended to only hire people that had great experience and/or seriousness in teaching. Where other places were more apt to take newcomers who may think working in a daycare will be fun and "easy" and then find out otherwise.
On the other hand...it was a stressful job. It was stressful cause I felt like the place seamed like it leaned more towards quantity instead of quality. Large classrooms with 20-30 kids a day with 4-6 teachers...and even though we were always in ratio it is just VERY busy with that many kids in one room. And on top of it, the conflicts that go on between teachers. I do miss my coworkers now because after working together for 10+ years they do become like family but there was a lot of drama between teacher/teacher, teacher/parents, parents/director, director/employees...being a in home provider is so much more peaceful...boring, but peaceful...

[Hunni Bee]

I work at a pretty small, private-owned center, 65 - 75 kids. The actual staff turnover is pretty low, there are only a few of us though. The assistant turnover rate is higher at about an average of 6 months. Could be a lot worse.

We are more of a family oriented, family-style center...as opposed to a corporate, chain center. I think that accounts for the lower turnover rates.

[Cat Herder]

I think the numbers are skewed because the 1117 centers who did not turn in their surveys were in a "state of employee transition" and lost their surveys. ::::


My old center had the class schedules and picture menus (allergies, etc next to child photos) of the kids on the wall....and those were NOT for the parents to see. It made it easier to "transition" New Employees (warm bodies) into their rooms.

[JenNJ]

At chain centers it must be MUCH higher in my opinion. At local, locally owned private centers it much lower. My son has been in a preschool program at a family owned local center for two years. I would estimate a staff of 23 total employees, both part and full time. Only one assistant has left (chose an out of state college) and one teacher will be leaving in a few weeks to move across the country and teach preschool in NM. I think a lot has to do with the dcation levels of the teachers. All assistants must be enrolled in college and working towards a degree in education or a closely related field. All head teachers met have a bachelors in education. It is a family owned center and 4 members of the family work there full time. They are heavily involved in the local community and also offer kindergarten.

[nannyde]

At chain centers it must be MUCH higher in my opinion. At local, locally owned private centers it much lower. My son has been in a preschool program at a family owned local center for two years. I would estimate a staff of 23 total employees, both part and full time. Only one assistant has left (chose an out of state college) and one teacher will be leaving in a few weeks to move across the country and teach preschool in NM. I think a lot has to do with the dcation levels of the teachers. All assistants must be enrolled in college and working towards a degree in education or a closely related field. All head teachers met have a bachelors in education. It is a family owned center and 4 members of the family work there full time. They are heavily involved in the local community and also offer kindergarten.

Jen
Can you tell me the cost of the preschool... the schedule...etc. Have you ever figured out the hourly rate? With that kind of staff it would have to be at least 7-8 dollars per hour per kid.

Money has everthing to do with it. I think there is a huge difference between preschool programs and centers who do full 12 hour days. I'm specifically interested in the full programs who may have preschool in their day care rate... not facilities that have morning and afternoon preschool ala carte or stand alone preschools. That's another deal all together.

The study cited was for full time centers. I wonder now how many of the respondents were doing all day center and additional preschool ala carte. That would skew the numbers too because the preschool when done five to seven hours a week is MUCH more per hour than the hourly rate of all day day care.

[JenNJ]

Jen
Can you tell me the cost of the preschool... the schedule...etc. Have you ever figured out the hourly rate? With that kind of staff it would have to be at least 7-8 dollars per hour per kid.

Money has everthing to do with it. I think there is a huge difference between preschool programs and centers who do full 12 hour days. I'm specifically interested in the full programs who may have preschool in their day care rate... not facilities that have morning and afternoon preschool ala carte or stand alone preschools. That's another deal all together.

The study cited was for full time centers. I wonder now how many of the respondents were doing all day center and additional preschool ala carte. That would skew the numbers too because the preschool when done five to seven hours a week is MUCH more per hour than the hourly rate of all day day care.

The center my son attends offers 12 hour days, but it is a learning facility from age 2 on. They offer care for as young as 6 weeks, but there is no set curriculum for those classes. Just care. Many, many of the children who attend are children of teachers. It also happens to be the least expensive option for full 12 hour care in a 5 mile radius. It is a brand new facility (4 years old) with a computer learning station, 2 playgrounds divided by age, veggie/fruit garden, and a spare classroom used just for large motor activities on days it is too hot or cold to be outside. They also host dance classes and martial arts classes (additional cost) in this room a few times each week from outside instructors.

Monday through Friday - 6:30am - 6:30pm. For 5 full time days for age 3+ it is $200 per week which includes pre-k curriculum (2 hours learning time each day) and 2 snacks. Breakfast is not served but may be brought in by parents and eaten in the classroom. Lunch is an additional charge of $3 per day or lunch may be sent in from home. Each class from 3+ has one teacher and one assistant. My sons class has 18 children. They do 2 hours of outside time a day minimum. Fresh veggies are grown in the garden and served as snacks when ripe.

If my math is right, based on all 18 kids attending FT, 5 days per week for all 12 hours, it works out to be $3.33 per hour. Part time schedules cost more per day which would raise the hourly rate.
1 day - $70
2 days - $110
3 days - $140
4 days - $180
5 days - $200

[nannyde]

The center my son attends offers 12 hour days, but it is a learning facility from age 2 on. They offer care for as young as 6 weeks, but there is no set curriculum for those classes. Just care. Many, many of the children who attend are children of teachers. It also happens to be the least expensive option for full 12 hour care in a 5 mile radius. It is a brand new facility (4 years old) with a computer learning station, 2 playgrounds divided by age, veggie/fruit garden, and a spare classroom used just for large motor activities on days it is too hot or cold to be outside. They also host dance classes and martial arts classes (additional cost) in this room a few times each week from outside instructors.

Monday through Friday - 6:30am - 6:30pm. For 5 full time days for age 3+ it is $200 per week which includes pre-k curriculum (2 hours learning time each day) and 2 snacks. Breakfast is not served but may be brought in by parents and eaten in the classroom. Lunch is an additional charge of $3 per day or lunch may be sent in from home. Each class from 3+ has one teacher and one assistant. My sons class has 18 children. They do 2 hours of outside time a day minimum. Fresh veggies are grown in the garden and served as snacks when ripe.

If my math is right, based on all 18 kids attending FT, 5 days per week for all 12 hours, it works out to be $3.33 per hour. Part time schedules cost more per day which would raise the hourly rate.
1 day - $70
2 days - $110
3 days - $140
4 days - $180
5 days - $200

does your child just attend preschool? What's the schedule of that and the money?

[Unregistered]

good centers, low turnover

We have a lot of good centers in my town. Of those centers, only 1 has high turnover and the others have almost nothing - the one that does is a national chain and pays their staff barely above minimum wage in our state and forces 1 staff person to a classroom of preschool age and higher. I'm sure you can all guess which chain that is. All the other centers have 2 person classrooms.

[Sugar Magnolia]

We have zero percent turnover here Nannyde, but as you know we are family run SMALL center. But we have a big center across the street from us. That building has housed 3 (!!) different daycares in the 6 years we have been here. We've had clients come here because they were sick to death of the constant turnover. I have a child who went there and had 4 teachers in 6 months. This child was about to turn one and was then eligible to come here. Mom went to pick him up one day and there was ONE teacher for TEN infants! A flagrant violation of law! He was enrolled here the next day. As a small center, it appalls me sometimes to hear how large centers conduct their business. To them, the name of the game is to have as many kids for as few (cheaply paid) staff as possible. Who thinks one staff person is appropriate for 15 (!!) 3 year olds? I don't! I'd quit too if I had to work in those conditions for minimum wage.

[Unregistered]

Turnover rates

I've worked at 3 different centers in the past and I'm a home daycare provider now. It was my experience that the staff turnover rate was higher in the daycare that is a chain daycare and it was lower at the smallest daycare center that I worked at. There are so many contributing factors in staff turnover. I think that some of the big ones that I noticed were employees of the center getting sick and calling in and that would get the director all fired up. Eventually, the employee would end up getting fired due to attendance. Also, it seemed like the younger employees would get the job, work for a short time and quit because it wasn't how they thought it would be. Money is huge in reasons for staff turnover. I was a lead teacher at one of the centers and I made less than $9/hour. Geez, just thinking about how many hours I put into that job and all of the effort and care that I put into my job makes me see red!

[TGPII]

If the staffing turn over is so high why am I having a hard time find a job? Compared

If the staffing turn over is so high why am I having a hard time find a job?
Compared to most low paying jobs such as fast food and retail you need lots of education for preschool jobs. College hours, CPR, food licensee ect. Instead of 2 or 3 p/t employees hire one at full time? Often people get in the field and realize it is not for them. Some don't realize there is diaper duty Most of use got in the field to work with kids, but there are adults such as co workers and parents you have to deal with.

Due to the economy that number should be going down. I have worked at a few private daycares. I never left due to partners or children. Maybe if the field paid more and offered affordable benefits you would not have issues! It was usually due to no hours, no benefits, very low pay or the directors/owners are crazy.

[Bookworm]

I work in a small center (less than 100 children) and our turnover rate tends to be higher among part-time employees. Some of the reasons for this is because of low pay and the claim that's it "too much work".

I am a firm believer of "you get what you pay for" and I think that this why turnover is so high in centers. Add that to too many kids in a classroom and no benefits for employees, and you will always have high turnover in centers.

In my state there is no educational requirement to work in a daycare and some preschools. Most only look for 6 months experience so that the person they hire is able to be in a classroom by themselves at one point in the day.

There is always going to be a relatively high turnover in chain centers because the main concern is the bottom line and the kids and teachers come in second. This is my opinion based on working in a chain center for many years.